Originally a culinary journey through the best (and sometimes not the best) eateries in Melbourne interstate and international. This site is a free guide. Your comments are very welcome and any contributions will be added to the site. Feel free to email us reviews, anytime and anywhere.

Monday, October 31, 2016

This place looks quite elegant and their internet site suggests that they are a cut above the average. (And so do their prices)On the night we ate there we found a few problems. the waiters were abrupt, snatching away the menus, and, on the other hand, over familiar, putting a hand on one of the guests shoulders as though he were a friend. Not a good start.they have a pleasant salad.An entree of snails in a pastry covered pot with tarragon and garlic in a white saucewas unusual and very nice.Scallops, all four of them,with a cauliflower puree were very ordinary.This king fish carpaccio with lemon dressing was good.Main courses left a lot to be desired.Confit of Duck with kipfler potatoes, orange sauce $36was dry and stringy.Ottolenghi style crispy pork belly with star anis & citrus sauce $36 was also desperately over cooked and missed the rich fat that makes this so tasty.Lamb chops. Probably the best of what we ate.Nothing like overcooked fish!Desserts were rather good.Pear Tarte Tatinticked all the boxes for me, but the souffle was a bit too sweet. In all I found this experience extremely disappointing.Score:13 /20

Words fail me. This was one of the most outstanding meals we have ever eaten. The emphasis is now on the food. The menu is extremely creative, original and interesting. Local products are used in original ways. Tastes and flavours are matched and we were continually and very positively stimulated. The theatrical aspects that characterized meals here have been dropped in favour of concentrated quality. As far as I can recall this is what we had. Everything was excellent but what stood out, for me, was the sea urchin, a dish I would normally avoid like the plague - it was actually served with kohlrabi linguini. It is a brilliant innovation.

SUNDAY 23TH October 2016

Chefs Tasting menu

Pickled quail egg and wild garlic

Grilled heirloom carrots basted with native lemon aspen

Flinders Island wallaby with rock melon and fennel

Moonlight flat rusty wire oyster with lemon myrtle,

Mooloolaba saucer scallops with nashi pear and lime,

Blue mussels with wild sorrel and apple

Sea Urchin with spring purple cauliflower and lavender

King green prawns with coriander, spring onion and a jasmine flower vinaigrette

About Me

This is a joint venture, to which you are welcome to join. Sandra, a perpetual student, has a doctorate in Psychology and now completed a Masters in gastronomy at Adelaide University.. She is an excellent cook and has a very good palate. We share interests in travel arts and literature and especially food. I am an aging bonviveur, workaholic gourmet slowly losing a battle with obesity. We love all good things.